


darling you're my, my, my, my lover.

by sailorshadzter



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Lover - Freeform, Modern AU, Taylor Swift - Freeform, jon x sansa - Freeform, jonsa, this album was dedicated to jonsa and you cant change my mind, tswift
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-22 02:03:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22041037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sailorshadzter/pseuds/sailorshadzter
Summary: these fics will expand throughout the lover album, by taylor swift.all lyrics belong to her. i offer my whole heart to her as thanks for this album & the constant inspiration it serves me.modern setting jonsa.spans their first meeting & onward.
Relationships: Jon Snow/Sansa Stark
Comments: 15
Kudos: 78





	1. Chapter 1

Jon Snow has been coming to Seasalt Tavern for years.

It's an off the wall sort of place- with crummy stools that need reupholstered and a nearly toothless barkeep that will talk your ear off, even if you don't want to hear him. Jon supposes it's these things (and many others) that keep him coming back, weekend after weekend.

On this particular night, it's open mic night.

The bar owner, a middle aged man named Davos, has done seldom few things in keeping up with the trendy new bars that have begun to open along the street, aside from open mic night. Every other Saturday night, which of course is Jon's favorite night to come, artists and musicians of all kinds are welcome to climb up onto the stage and perform as they like. Sometimes it's slam poetry from the hipster kids with their beanie hats and tight jeans. Sometimes it's a struggling artist, just hoping to be discovered. There's never much talent, but it takes confidence to climb up on that stage in front of dozens of strangers, that alone says a lot about the people performing. In truth, good or bad, Jon enjoys open mic night- it's far better than trivia night, which he tends to skip out on when it comes around on Friday nights.

"Thank you Jasper, for that... Uh... _Riveting_ performance."

It's Davos' voice cutting into his thoughts, booming through the mic he now holds as he waves a young man off the stage. Said young man wasn't particularly talented, though he certainly thought he was, which Jon would say the alcohol he consumed in the last hour preparing for his time on stage was to thank for the confidence boost. Jon turns from where he sits at the bar, momentarily interested in seeing who the next performer might be. It's past nearly midnight now and he tells himself he'll go home after this last one.

"Please, help me welcome our next guest! Sansa!" Davos' cheery vocals are drowned out by the screaming that suddenly comes from the table nearest the stage. Jon turns his attention to the young woman sitting there, with long chestnut colored curls that tumble down her back as she cheers on the girl that's now climbing up onto the stage.

And just like that, Jon is starstruck.

He's never seen a more beautiful woman- she's got long, red hair that hangs down to the small of her back, shiny and silky looking in the spotlight. Her smile is nervous and even from where he sits at the bar, Jon can see the gleam in her eyes. She's got only a guitar in her hand, though he notices a shiny silver bracelet clasped around her left wrist. "Hi," she speaks into the microphone, glancing down at her friend who continues to cheer her on. "I uh... Wrote this song myself." She clears her throat as she lifts the guitar into position, strumming it softly, ensuring proper tuning. 

In an instant, she begins, the guitar playing an interlude of only a moment before the words begin to flow.

_"Combat, I'm ready for combat  
I say I don't want that, but what if I do?"_

Jon finds himself rendered unable to move, hardly able to breathe.

The girl upon the stage- Sansa- sings softly into the mic, the guitar the only other sound in the room as all conversation dies. All eyes are upon the pretty redhead who sings there upon the stage.

_"Easy they come, easy they go  
I jump from the train, I ride off alone."_

Her words flow effortlessly, her voice growing stronger with every line that she sings. Jon spares a glance around the room and sees tears in many eyes. He turns back to the young woman there in the light as she looks out into the crowd, a soft little smile toying with her rosy lips. A pause comes, but her fingers still yet strum the strings of her guitar. Her tongue darts out, wetting those lips, her breath echoing into the mic as she prepares herself for the next verse.

_"I've been the archer  
I've been the prey  
Who could ever leave me, darling?  
But who could stay?"_

He wonders about the meaning of the words she sings. He wonders who could ever leave such a divine creature behind.

She's misty eyed on the stage and Jon feels his heart skip a beat when she must pause- only for a moment- to catch her breath, her emotions. Around him, all as stopped, even the rowdiest of tables sit in silence as this Sansa Stark sings her song. A song that is clearly full of personal feelings, though she offers it to all of them- words that dozens of those within the room might relate to. Words that might offer even just one person in that room healing, understanding.

_"I wake in the night, I pace like a ghost  
The room is on fire, invisible smoke  
And all of my heroes die all alone."_

Jon wonders now who has failed her.

Who has hurt her enough for such hauntingly beautiful words to be written? What has given her the inspiration for this song? Jon blinks and realizes only then that he too has grown teary eyed. Has he not felt these same feelings she sings of? How many in that room must understand what she sings of...? Of wanting to be loved, but being afraid to trust in anyone? Who has been hurt and left behind, who has been broken nearly beyond repair? She sings sad, sad words... But they are sadly understood.

_"All the king's horses, all the king's men  
Couldn't put me together again  
'Cause all of my enemies started out friends  
Help me hold onto you"_

Jon wonders if she's singing to someone or just to the universe.

Her voice is silky smooth, almost like honey. He finds that he never wishes for her to stop singing. He would listen to her sing the ABCs or any other song she wished. She could sing the jingle from the coffee commercials and he would gladly listen. And from the way the crowd was mesmerized by her, it seems that they would too.

The song is coming to a close, he can tell by the way her hands fall free from the guitar, coming instead to wrap around the base of the microphone. A few beats of silence and then the final lines come, haunting and lovely all the same.

_"Who could stay?  
You could stay  
You could stay  
You  
Combat, I'm ready for combat"_

As she finishes, silence falls, though it only lasts a moment before the clapping begins. The brunette friend of hers is on her feet, screaming and cheering, tear tracks on her cheeks as she pumps a fist into to air. On the stage, Sansa is blushing to the roots of her fiery hair, bashful and shifting uncomfortably as the bar erupts in cheers and claps. Even Davos is struggling to find the words to say, so taken aback was he by the true talent that has appeared in his bar.

But finally she waves to the crowd as she descends back to the floor and passes by another girl who looks absolutely miserable at having to follow such an act. She returns to the table with her friend who immediately throws her arms around her, embracing her as she wipes her eyes, whispering into her ear as the next act begins. Jon watches as the redhead holds her friend at arms length, still smiling as she says something else, gesturing towards the bar that Jon currently sits at.

He's rendered breathless as she approaches, sliding onto the bar stool beside him, their shoulders just barely brushing as she spins to face the bartender. "Rum and coke, please." She says in that honey-like voice, ordering of all things, the very same drink Jon currently holds in his own hand. As she waits for her drink, Jon catches a wiff of her perfume- roses and honeysuckle, a strangely fitting scent for her. He wants to say something to her, he has to say something to her, but his lips refuse to move, his brain refuses to work. Sentence, what's that? Say anything, anything! He tells himself as she reaches for the drink now being offered to her. He watches as she reaches for her wallet and finally, the words come.

"It's on me."

That voice absolutely does not belong to him and now he wishes he'd just said nothing at all.

But she turns to him with a wide grin, blinding him, truly blinding him. Now that she's before him, he sees just how blue her eyes are; they are like the open sea and Jon finds he would willingly drown in them. "Thanks," she says, brushing a vibrant lock of hair over a shoulder. He sees she's got a tiny wolf tattoo just above her collarbone, out of sight until she shifted her hair. Now he's really breathless.

"Your song... It was incredible." He says, speaking the truth, watching as a red stain spreads across her ivory cheeks. "There's no one who's come through this bar with a talent like yours." She blushes deeper, murmuring another thank you, a quick I'm sure there's plenty of others, raising her blue eyes to meet his with a timid sort of smile. Jon shakes his head, laughing before he drains the last drops of his drink. "I would know. I may or may not be here a few nights a week." He admits, tossing down some money onto the counter, enough for the first two drinks he had, as well as the one she's now taking a sip of.

"Well then... Maybe we'll see each other again." Her smile is different, her eyes glimmering as she focuses her gaze upon him. "Margaery," she turns, gesturing towards her friend who's now chatting with a guy around their age, hanging onto every word he's saying over the now thumping bass of the stereo. "She's got a crush on that guy." Sansa rolls her eyes as she turns back to him. "As soon as we got here and she saw it was open mic night, she more or less threatened me to get up there." She's giggling now, shaking her head as she slips from the stool, yet again offering him a smile. "Thanks again, for the drink I mean."

"It's no problem." Jon replies, watching as she turns to go, taking a single step away before she turns back to him.

"I'm Sansa, by the way."

Jon smiles, reaching for the hand she offers him. Her skin is soft and warm. "Jon. Jon Snow."

"Well Jon Snow, hopefully we meet again." Her grin flashes and then she's gone, red hair swinging as she returns to her friend's side, who's now sullenly staring off at the guy she was once chatting with, now engrossed in the hockey game on the television. Jon remains at the bar for only a few moments longer before he tugs on his coat and waves goodbye at Davos, heading out the door and into the cold winter air. His hand still yet can feel the warmth of hers, his ears still yet ringing with her soft, but strong vocals.

As he climbs into bed a short while later, all he can think about is the gleam in her eyes and the hauntingly beautiful sound of her voice, of that little wolf tattoo he caught a glimpse of against her collarbone. He wonders what else she hides behind her smile and wonders if he'll ever again hear her sing.

Closing his eyes, Ghost already snoring at the bedside, Jon drifts off with her song still yet an echo inside his mind.


	2. soon you'll get better.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> as if by fate, jon finds sansa at his usual table in the coffee shop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im really excited to get further into the album, but recently, it was one of my best friend’s mom’s birthdays, though she passed away about nine years ago now. she was like a second mother to me & i miss her a lot. there were so many days i spent with her while she was sick & a lot of time i spent with her daughters. her younger two girls are like my little sisters. 
> 
> anyways, i originally wasnt even going to INCLUDE this song in the series, but thinking about this “second mom” of mine inspired me to write this instead. 
> 
> next time, i’m not certain ill follow this same set up.   
> it might be a time skip, it might be an “inspired by” rather than using the lyrics themselves. who knows! we’ll see what happens. 
> 
> hope you guys enjoy. :)

It's been several long, grueling weeks without seeing her.

Jon frequents Seasalt Tavern, even on trivia night, if only to catch a glimpse of that shiny red hair. But each night, he's let down. Even now, he hears her song in his brain. The echo of her words, soft and true, sing him to sleep when he closes his eyes each night. She haunts him, in a way no woman has ever done before.

Lunch break. It comes every day, a glorious hour where Jon steps away from his desk if only to stretch his legs. He joined the Westeros Special Forces unit only six months ago, a transfer in from the Northern faction, deciding to head South for a change of scenery post break up. Ygritte had been... Well, a spitfire, to say the least. And hard to forget. Their relationship had been as fiery as her temper and her hair. Yeah, he has a type, so sue him. While he didn't miss the fights and the theatrics of the relationship, he missed _being_ with someone. Ygritte cared about him in her own, weird sort of way, and he misses the companionship she had provided him for nearly three years.

Jon sighs as he steps out into the afternoon sun, deciding the local coffee shop would suffice for lunch today. It's only a short walk up the street and Jon finds himself stepping inside within minutes, the blast of cold air refreshing. Six months in of living in the South and Jon still hasn't quite adjusted to the heat. He misses the icy cold air of the North- somehow, it felt cleaner up there. That ache in your lungs you felt when you took in the first breath of cold, morning air... He misses that almost as much as he misses the fiery warmth of a woman in his bed.

The girl behind the counter smiles and offers a wave- she's a University student, Jon has learned in his time coming here, eager to graduate the following spring and step into a new world as a nurse. "Hey Jon," she greets as he approaches, "the usual?" It's Jon's turn to grin as he nods and turns to head towards his usual table, but is surprised to find it already occupied.

And just like that, there she is.

She's surrounded by notebooks and a textbook or two, though she seems focused on a single notebook. Her red hair is twisted back into braids and tucked up with pins, though a few strands have fallen free to frame her face. Jon sucks in a breath as he watches her for only a moment more, for she looks up then and notices him staring. At once, she sits up straighter, squinting her eyes as recognition spreads across her face. "Hey," she says after a moment, folding her arms over the tabletop as she leans forward. "Jon, right?" She says, though she's not forgotten his name. She's recited it over and over and over again since the night they met. "Nice suit." Her eyes trail him up and down and Jon feels warmth spread to his cheeks, her lip gloss lips curving with a smile. If she notices the gun strapped to his hip, she doesn't mention it.

"Call it a drawback to the job," Jon jokes a moment later when he finally finds his voice again, the sweet sound of her laughter ringing in his ears. His heart soars. "I haven't seen you, at the bar I mean." He says and at once, he regrets it. She sits up straighter, those ocean blue eyes widening ever so slightly as she regards him closely. "I-I mean, they're talking about you. About your song, your voice." Smooth, he thinks as he can only hope a hole opens up on the floor and swallows him up. Just then, the barista appears with his steaming drink, to which he grins and gives his thanks before the girl is gone, leaving him there to probably continue to embarrass himself. But to his surprise, she does not send him away with a scowl or cruel words, rather her face softens and she gestures for him to sit.

"If you want," she says, an offering, her head tilted to the side, the stray strand of hair falling just across her forehead. He wishes he could push it back, he wishes he could feel it between his fingers. It takes him only a moment to take the seat across from her, his to-go cup warm despite the cardboard slip around it's middle. "I've been busy," she says by way of explanation, a fleeting look of sadness crossing her features as she looks back at him. For some reason, despite not knowing him, Sansa feels as if she can trust him. His dark, solemn eyes give her a sense of hope she's not felt in a long time. "Besides, I couldn't come back without another song."

"So there's another one?" He asks, taking the first sip of his coffee. It's a simple order, a caramel macchiato with an extra shot of espresso, one which he never deviates from. "Open mic night is next week, isn't it?" She grins and nods, telling him she heard from her friend Margaery about the next date and that she would be there.

"Margaery has been trying to drag me out for weeks now, I haven't-" she stops, realizing she's about to dump something on him that's probably beyond a normal talking point for a first real conversation. As if Jon senses her uncertainty, he offers her a smile and encourages her to go on. "It's my mother..." Sansa shifts in her chair, absently swirling the last swallow of coffee in her mug as she looks anywhere but Jon's face. "She's sick and I... Between taking care of her and my little brothers and sister..." She looks up and it's written all over Jon's face- sympathy, yet understanding. There is no judgment, there is nothing but warmth. Somehow, it's as if she's known him all her life, not a single conversation in a dark bar. "Anyways, Margaery says it's good if I get out sometimes, you know? So I let her drag me out every now and again." She smiles as she thinks of her friend, who she knows loves her dearly. Margaery was a good, no a _great_ , friend and Sansa reminds herself to give her friend a hug.

"I'm sorry... About your mother." Jon says after a moment, knowing the pain of losing a mother, though he doesn't mention such a thing to her. The last thing he wants to do is remind her of what she certainly worries about often. "You have siblings?" He asks instead and is delighted to see the smile brighten up her face as she nods. 

"Three of them. Two brothers, Bran is thirteen and Rickon is nine. Arya is fifteen." Her little siblings are her entire world. They have always been close, the Stark children that is, especially so in the four years since Robb had died. But even as kids, even with the years between them all, they had always been close. And with her mother's illness and her father's business, it left much of raising them to her. She could not remember a time where she was not with the little ones, though now that they're older and mostly taking care of themselves, she wishes she could go back. It hadn't always been easy, but she loved every moment spent with those little siblings of hers. "What about you?"

Jon smiles when he shakes his head. "I don't have much family at all, well aside for a distant cousin who lives in Essos." He had never known his father and his mother had died when he was just a kid, leaving him to be raised in foster homes until he came of age. "It's just me and Ghost, honestly."

"Ghost?" She asks and Jon can't stop from reaching for his cell phone, pulling up the most recent photo of the big, white dog he means. "A wolf dog?!" She blurts without warning, excitedly reaching for her own phone, which lay beside the notebook she'd been writing in. She taps the screen and shows him the background photo- a family photo of five kids with varying shades of hair, each proudly standing with shaggy pups that were as colorful as them. She draws the phone back towards her and when she hands it back, there's a photo instead of a beautiful gray wolf like dog, who's eyes are more gold than yellow. "That's Lady."

"You all have them?" Jon is surprised- he's never met another person with a wolf dog like Ghost, let alone a family of them.

"My father... He found an entire litter when we were kids," she explains, the memory burned into her brain as if it had happened only yesterday. "My family's sigil is a direwolf, so my father said he couldn't just turn them away. He said they came to us for a reason." For a litter of pups to be born, five pups for the five Stark children, it had surely been a sign from the Old Gods, and so despite her mother's wishes, all the puppies came home to the children. The way he's leaning over the table, he can see the soft curves of her handwriting on the paper- small and neat, her handwriting fits her perfectly. She must notice him looking for she grins and slides the paper towards him. "Next week's song," she says, tapping the top where she's written the apparent name across the top. "I think it's finished... I hope it's finished."

Jon reads only the first few lines before he pushes it back towards her. "I want to hear it when it is," he says and drains the last sip of his drink. "Listen, I have to head back to the office now but I uh... I'll see you next week." He rises up to his feet, the scrape of the chair against the floor the only noise in the room for a single moment. Sansa smiles and yet again, Jon is rendered breathless by her. If only this moment could last forever.

"Yeah, next week," she replies, barely breathing herself.

When Jon approaches the desk to pay for his drink, he tells the barista he wants to pay for her drink too. Though she's surprised, the young woman does as he's bid and waves to him as he takes the receipt and his change and heads for the door. Just as he goes to toss it into the waste bin, he peaks at the receipt and to his surprise, sees that she must have ordered the very same drink as him.

[ x x x ]

The bar is quiet as Sansa climbs up to the stage again.

Again, accompanied only by her guitar, she gazes out into the crowd of people, smiling down at her brunette friend before she speaks into the microphone. "I had an entirely different song planned for this night a few weeks ago, but my mother... She's sick and she's relapsed so I wrote this for her." In the long nights beside the hospital bed, the beeping of the machines her only melody, she had penned these lyrics. She had scribbled these lines onto napkins and the back of her hand. She had written this song to remind herself that in the end, her mother would step out of the hospital and home would become home again. Taking a deep breath, she strums the guitar and finds the right note.

And then she sings.

_"The buttons of my coat were tangled in my hair  
In doctor's-office-lighting, I didn't tell you I was scared  
That was the first time we were there."_

Jon sits at the bar again.

It's his usual spot, with his usual drink in hand. He had saw her come in- red hair in curls and her impossibly long legs wrapped in denim- but hadn't got a chance to talk to her. Her friend, Margaery he thinks it is, sits where she sat the first time, but this time the guy she had been crushing on sits beside her, arm around her waist.

The song Sansa sings... He recalls reading those first few lines in the coffee shop but hearing her silky voice singing them makes all the difference. She's stronger this time- less nervous than she must have been the first time around and Jon is surprised when from across the room, their eyes meet.

And he swears his heart must stop.

_"Ooh-ah, soon you'll get better  
Ooh-ah, soon you'll get better  
Ooh-ah, you'll get better soon  
'Cause you have to."_

Those words are the soft plea of a daughter to her sick mother, the simple view that there was no other option than to recover. Jon glances around the room and can see there are at least five others in that room who know the feelings she's singing about.

Yet again, Sansa's song is reaching people.

_"I know delusion when I see it in the mirror  
You like the nicer nurses, you make the best of a bad deal  
I just pretend it isn't real  
I'll paint the kitchen neon, I'll brighten up the sky  
I know I'll never get it, there's not a day that I won't try."_

One of the women Jon had noticed earlier is openly crying at her table now and he recognizes her as the one who had lost her mother only a month before. Jon recalls that pain himself, despite the years that it's been since he lost his own mother. He can still recall the sweet scent of her perfume, but he's forgotten what her voice sounded like or how warm her arms had been whenever she hugged him. It's been many years since he lost his mother, but the pain of it never goes away. Not entirely.

On the stage, Sansa too sees the woman that cries softly at her table, the man beside her wrapping his arm around her in comfort. She wishes she hadn't made her cry, she feels bad about that, in truth, but there's no stopping now.

_"And I hate to make this all about me  
But who am I supposed to talk to?  
What am I supposed to do  
If there's no you?  
This won't go back to normal, if it ever was  
It's been years of hoping, and I keep saying it because  
'Cause I have to."_

As she breaks into the final chords, the final repeat of _soon you'll get better,_ she looks out into the faces around her, wondering just how many of them out there got the message. How many others besides that single woman understood the pain of watching someone they loved go through an illness? Probably too many, she realizes.

When her hand finally falls from the guitar and silence descends, she lets out the breath she's been holding and her heart skips a beat when the first claps begin. And then it's every person in the bar that's clapping, some even cheering as she smiles for them and descends down to join Margaery at the table.

Jon watches as she escapes from her friend and instead crosses the room to approach the other crying woman. They embrace and when Sansa pulls back, the woman holds her at arm's length as they talk. When they finish their conversation, Sansa does not return to Margaery's table but to his shock, she comes towards the bar to stand before him where he sits on his usual stool. "Buy me a drink?" She asks with a grin and for a moment, Jon is too stunned to say anything. But then he nods and she slides onto the stool beside him, so close that again he catches the scent of her sweet perfume.

They talk for what could be several hours, Jon seems to have lost track of the time as he sits there with her. It isn't until Margaery approaches her, a touch to her shoulder, a quick but silent it's time to go home. "I have to go," she says, brushing a curl behind an ear, revealing the three little studs she wears in her lobes. "Maybe we don't have to wait until the next mic night to see each other," she grins as she slides a piece of paper towards him as she hops of the stool, a little wobbly after her three drinks. Before Jon can speak, she's rushing after Margaery who waits at the door for her, her guy already out in the lot to fetch the car.

Jon lifts up the piece of paper and he finds his heart is racing as he realizes it's her phone number written there. Pre written, he realizes, meaning she had always intended on giving it to him. He feels warm and it's not just because of the four drinks he's consumed sitting there with Sansa. Okay... That might be partly to blame, but mostly he's just beyond happy. He reaches for his phone and adds her into his contacts list, clicking the new message icon, though he hesitates for a moment. Was it weird if he texted her so quickly? No, he decides, she gave him her number, which meant she wanted him to text her.

And so he taps the message space and begins to type.

Sansa is climbing into the backseat of the car when her phone beeps.

She fishes it out of her purse and her heart skips a beat when she sees it is a number not yet saved to her contacts. "He texted you? Already?" Margaery is excited in the front seat, the one who had encouraged Sansa to talk to him that night, the one to write down her phone number for Sansa to give to him. "I told you," she mumbled as she turned back around, smiling to herself as she thinks of the way the dark haired, brooding sort of man had been staring at her friend both last time and tonight. After the last relationship Sansa had been in, she deserved someone who looked at her like this Jon looked at her.

_On Sunday's I take Ghost to the dog park. Maybe Lady would like to join him?_

Sansa smiles and types a quick reply.

Just as he's sliding off the stool that his phone lights up on the bar. Jon can't help but to chuckle when he sees her response.

_Lady would love that, but I hope I'm invited. 👀_

When she reads his response, she's grinning, a strange warmth filling her up, threatening to spill over. _Sorry, I forget how to act when I think about cute dogs owned by cute girls._ Another text comes before she can reply to the first. _I'll see you and Lady both there, say noon?_

She nods, though he can't see, and hits send on her own message.

Jon climbs into his car and hears the beep of her reply. _We'll see you there. :)_

He drives himself home and it isn't until he's settled into his apartment that he realizes his phone went off without him noticing. Unlocking the screen, he's surprised to see it's a picture message, rather than just a normal text. _This is how she looks at me when I tell her we have plans tomorrow._ The picture is of Lady asleep on the couch, or at least pretending to be, as she has one yellow eye open looking up at Sansa who must be leaning over her to snap the picture. We're going to bed, see you tomorrow. _I promise she's as excited as I am._ Her next text comes a moment later and Jon grins down at Ghost, reciting the message aloud to the dog. "She's excited..." He murmurs as he sinks back into the couch, not fully prepared to head to bed.

In her bedroom, stripped down to nothing but a t-shirt, Sansa is climbing into bed when her phone vibrates on her bedside table. Reaching for it, she blinks against the brightness of her screen so she can read Jon's last message. _Ghost on the other hand..._ A pause and then the photo comes, making her smile as she clicks it to enlarge it. It's of the great big white wolf, grinning like only a dog can, clearly excited by something Jon is doing or saying. _Sleep tight, girls,_ comes last and as Sansa curls up beneath her blankets, she smiles to herself, not yet daring to believe that this is entirely real. Jon seems almost too good to be true. Though, she supposes there's only one way to figure it out. She hasn't dated in well over a year... Not since Joffrey... But something tells her Jon is the farthest type from Joffrey that could ever possibly be.

As she closes her eyes, she thinks of him, of those deep set brown eyes, and falls asleep. 


	3. dog park date - a bonus chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> bonus chapter of jon & sansa's first date.  
> i couldnt help myself hahaha

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> included background info could change, as this is only a "bonus" chapter and a good excuse for me to test out some ideas for the story itself.

Sunday morning.

She's spent a ridiculous time in front of her bedroom mirror, frustrated by her lack of clothing and the anxiety she's begun to feel. It's true, she's not done this in a long time. Once, she had sworn off dating and men in general. After Joffrey, though, who could blame her? Joffrey had been of a caliber all his own- arrogance and violence all wrapped up in one single man. And yet... His smile was charming, his golden hair like that of a hero from a story book. Sansa had fallen hard for him and in the beginning, things had felt perfect, almost too perfect.

Looking back, there had been signs- of course there had, but she was blinded by the brightness of being in love for the first time. She recalled the first time they argued, about a night she spent with Margaery, far later than the time she had thought to be home. The fight ended when Joffrey smashed her phone in a fit of rage. Sansa had fled their shared flat that night, opting to spend a night at home instead, though she never told her parents the truth of her stay. She wishes she'd never gone back to that flat, back to him, but she had... And it was the worst mistake of her life.

_Knock, knock._

Sansa turns towards the door, pulled from the past and the tangle of her thoughts to face her younger sister who stands there, dark hair pulled back in a tight top knot, Nymeria hovering in the doorway behind her. "You're gonna be late," she says as she steps further into the room, avoiding the discarded clothes that litter the floor. Clearly, her usually well dressed and fashionable sister was struggling. Sansa makes a face at her and turns back to the mirror, once again surveying the reflection it shows. "You look _fine_ ," Arya goes on as she sinks onto the bed, though she must shove over a few shirts to find a spot to sit. Nymeria lays down beneath her feet, though her eyes do not close as she too blinks up at Sansa. "It's just a walk in the park."

"I seem to remember someone who worried about what they wore on their first date with Gendry...." Sansa shoots her sister a smirk in the mirror, triumphant when the young girl blushes despite herself. Arya is not easy to poke fun at- except when it came to Gendry. "You really think this is alright?" She turns back to face her little sister, arms outstretched to give her a better look. It takes a moment but then Arya nods, giving her a quick thumbs up. Sansa sighs but gives a single nod of her own, knowing at this point she didn't have time to change again anyways. This was it. "Don't forget, Jory will pick you up at noon to go see mum," Arya nods, following after Sansa as she heads out of her bedroom.

Arya had come to live with the month before. Her little sister had always been a bit on the wild side, like their aunt Lyanna, their father said, but ever since their mother's illness had resurfaced... Arya was having trouble dealing. And so Sansa had decided it was best for everyone if Arya came to stay with her awhile. It seemed to be helping... at least, Sansa hoped it was. "I'll see you tonight, alright?" Sansa smiles down at her little sister and raises her hand in a wave as she clips Lady's leash into place. "Later!"

Out into the sunshine of the late morning, Sansa allows Lady full control of her leash, keeping surprisingly slack grasp for a dog like Lady. But her sweet Lady was gentle, soft, quite unlike the way she looked and quite like the name she's been given. The wolf dog was often assumed to be prone to violence- wild animals, people on the street would say, but Lady was far from it. Truthfully, all of the pack had turned out quite docile, though Grey Wind had always snapped his jaws when irritated, though fitting for Robb's companion. She could still remember how Robb would snap in an instant, laying to waste any bully, grown or child, with his sharp wit and intelligence.

Her thoughts turn from her brother instead to Jon, who has caught her gaze just up ahead of her. He's knelt down on the corner, just outside the gate that leads into the local dog park, grinning as he pats his great, white dog on his head. For a moment, all of the breath leaves her body; here in the sunshine, she catches a glimpse of him she's yet to have. Jon wears a white t-shirt, basic but it suits him, and it reveals to her what she's been wondering all this time- just how muscular was he? Turns out, its the perfect amount. His dark curls are tightly secured in a knot at the back of his head, something she's very attracted to, and his dark jeans look well worn, as if they're his favorite pair. "Sansa, hey." He notices her almost too quickly, rising up from where he knelt as she approaches. Before she can respond, Ghost is surging forward and Lady is greeting him just as excitedly, as if they were long lost friends. "Well, they like each other, huh?" Jon jokes and Sansa laughs, the sound sending waves of pleasure down his spine.

In truth, he's not sure how he managed to stand up _and_ speak to her. She's a stunning vision in her light colored denim, skin tight down to the ankle, her top a slightly oversized graphic tee that's been ripped down into a sharp, deep neckline, tantalizing him in the worst (and best) of ways. Her red hair is pulled back in a sleek ponytail on top of her head and the length of it still amazes him. "No gun today, huh?" She asks, her voice bringing him out of his stupor.

"No," he laughs, shaking his head as they fall into step along the pathway. It's prime time for the dog park and so there comes laughter and voices from all around them, the barking of different dogs floating along the breeze. "Even I get a day or two off a week." In truth, he gets three, but that's because of the long hours. "How about you? What kind of work do you do to score weekends off?"

She blushes, surprising him, and she licks her rosy lips as if she's thinking about what to say. "Well, I'm a student, mostly," she admits with a quick smile, loosening her grip on Lady's leash so the dog can catch up with Ghost, who runs ahead. "I had a job but..." She can't admit that she had to quit her job because of Joffrey so she says the first thing that comes to her mind. "It was interfering with my studies, so I'm just taking a break until the end of the semester." Now, that wasn't _entirely_ a lie, anyways.

"You must go to U of W, huh?" He asks to which she nods. "What are you studying?"

"I want to be a music teacher," she grins, thinking already of the small children she's guided through a spring concert during her time as a student teacher this last semester. "For little kids." She thinks a lot about taking an extra course or two, to add music therapy to her degree, but with her mother being ill, she's barely had the time for her regular classes, let alone a few additional ones.

Jon thinks back to those two nights at the bar, the sound of her voice always an echo in his mind... "Any kid that has you for a teacher would be pretty lucky," he admits without hesitation, bringing another rush of color to her cheeks. They turn onto another path, this one leading to a fenced off chunk of land that the dogs can run leash free. When Lady and Ghost are rushing excitedly out into the open, the other dogs in the distance barking as they approach, the two of them find a seat on one of the benches that sit against the fence. "I meant to ask... Your mom, how is she?"

Sansa blinks, genuinely surprised by the question he's just asked. She sits up a little straighter, their shoulder brushing as she shifts. "She's doing great, actually, I think hopefully she'll get to go home in a few weeks." The most recent prognosis had been a good one and Sansa can only hope that it's a matter of time before she's considered "well" again. "My father will be glad to have her home and my brothers, too." She smiles, thinking of the little boys she's left behind in the North, at home.

"That's great!" Jon says, truly meaning it, recalling the heartfelt wish of her last song. "Where does your family live? You're not from down here," like him, her voice carries the distinct Northern accent, though from differing areas. "Northern, am I right?" He thinks she must be from the Vale, that red hair of hers certainly reminded him of the Tully's in Riverrun. "Where are you from?"

She blushes again and looks away, momentarily distracted by the sound of Lady's bark. "Well, I told you my name was Sansa Stark, didn't I?" She shoots him a somewhat sheepish glance, blue eyes shining in the morning sunlight. That's right... Jon realizes, recalling that night when she had told him her name, though it hadn't registered with him what that might have meant. "My father is Eddard Stark."

"You're the daughter of the Warden of the North?" Jon exclaims, unable to contain his shock at what she's just told him. So he was right about that Tully red hair, considering who her mother was. Though united under a single king, the kingdom of Westeros was divided into nations, governed by someone chose by the king himself, to rule in his name, as of course he could not be in every nation at once. The governor of each kingdom was like a king all his own.

She cringes, unable to help it, though she smiles all the same. "Yeah, he is," she confirms with a quick nod. It's not that she's ashamed of who she is or who her family is, but being attached to the Stark name, to the name of a family who's head runs an entire kingdom... It can be daunting. The expectations were higher, she was raised differently than the other young women she attends University with. With that comes privilege and coming to school here has opened her eyes to the many blessings she's been given in life. But.. Even so... She had always wanted more than what her parents had wanted for her. Coming to university had been her only way of rebelling against them, choosing to study music and pursue a career of her own outside of running the North.

"That's incredible," Jon kicks himself mentally for not realizing this sooner. "So your family lives up North still?" He's somewhat surprised that Eddard Stark had allowed his daughter to stray so far from home. It was rumored that the Stark's were untrusting of those outside their bubble of the North, of Winterfell. Though, Eddard Stark's oldest friend was their King, Robert Baratheon, so Jon supposes he felt he could trust his daughter would be safe in the South.

"My father lives North still, with my brothers, and my mother.. Well the best hospitals are here in the South, so..." She trails off, raising her shoulders in a shrug. "I moved here for school because I wanted something of my own. Being part of my family..." Another pause, a strained sort of smile toying with her rosy lips. "I've been what they wanted my entire life. I wanted something that was only mine, not something they gave me or something that they wanted me to want. But... When I left, that's when Robb... That's when Robb was killed. And not long after that was my mother's first diagnosis." It was also when she had first met Joffrey. Sometimes, irrational as it is, she can't help but to wonder if she was the cause of her family's pain and Joffrey had been her punishment. She had moved to King's Landing despite her parents wishes and Robb had come along to "protect her" as he'd put it, deciding to enroll in the University alongside her. Before anyone knew it, he was dead and their mother was ill. "I'm sorry," she's blushing again, "that was a lot to dump on you." Again, she's struck by how easy it is to talk to him.

For a moment, Jon is silent. "I kind of understand what you mean," he admits after a moment more. "I grew up mostly on my own," he shakes his head when she looks up surprised, mouth opening to apologize. "But I never felt like I had something of my own. I didn't have a family, so I didn't have much. I guess that's why I joined the Special Forces." Back then, he had hoped to find family among comrades, to find something worth fighting for. Worth living for. "I came South to find what I've always felt like I was missing." He's never told anyone these things, but looking into her clear blue eyes, Jon knows he could probably tell her anything.

Sitting there in the sunshine, staring into his eyes, Sansa knows something is about to change. She can feel it in the air, hear it in the whisper of the wind. She opens her mouth to speak, but she can't find the words to say. In truth, it almost feels better without words. It's as if they understand each other, despite the silence of the moment. No moment has ever felt like this before, super charged with electricity that flows through her veins. She wonders if he can feel it too.

He can.

It takes everything in him not to reach for her, to touch her hand, to feel what her skin feels like against his own. They fall back into easy conversation after a few more moments of static silence and Jon finds he quite enjoys the easy going sound of her laughter. He wills himself to be wittier, if only to bring another smile to her face.

Later, when the morning has faded into early afternoon, they stand at the bottom of the stone steps that lead up to her home. "I had a lot of fun," she says, bobbing on her feet, ponytail swinging with her every movement. "And it looks like they had too much fun," she giggles, gesturing down at the dogs that have laid themselves down on the sidewalk at their owners feet, tired out from a long morning of running and playing. 

Jon chuckles as he tugs on Ghost's leash, urging the dog back up onto his paws. "Maybe next time we'll have to leave the slowpokes behind, I guess they can't keep up." Sansa feels her heart skip a beat. Next time? He wants there to be a next time? "I'll call you, okay?" He goes on and she pulls herself from her mind, nodding quick. "See you, Sansa."

"Bye, Jon." She feels almost... Empty... Yes, that's it, empty, when he walks away from her. Perhaps he feels it too, for on the corner he pauses, turning back around to look for her. She still yet stands there on the sidewalk and so she raises her hand in a silent gesture of goodbye. Jon returns her wave and then disappears around the corner, leaving her with no other choice but to head inside.

When she steps inside, she finds Arya laying on the floor in the den, Nymeria beside her. "Hey." Her younger sister calls out, raising herself up onto an elbow so she can turn to face Sansa as she sinks down onto the couch. "Mum says hi," she rolls over and sits up to pat Lady who has dropped down onto the floor beside Nymeria. "So..?"

"So what?"

Arya rolls her eyes, leaning in to give Sansa's calf a gentle punch. " _Sooo_ , is there going to be another date?"

A smile toys with Sansa's lips before she gives a single nod. "I think so. I _hope_ so."

[ x x x ]

It's as she's dumping the dishes from dinner into the sink that Sansa hears her phone beeping with an oncoming call. 

Wiping her hands off on a dish towel, she waves a smirking Arya away and can't stop her heart from skipping a beat at the sight of the name on the screen. "Hey," she says when she answers, sounding way more easy going than she feels. In truth, she's fearful that her heart might beat right out of her chest there in the kitchen.

"Hi," Jon's tenor vocals are smooth through the phone. She can almost imagine him on the other end, leaning against his kitchen counter, Ghost at his feet. "I know there's some rule about waiting to call, but I..." He trails off and surely he must be shaking his head to clear his mind. "I couldn't wait."

"I'm glad you didn't," she's barely breathing as she sinks into her usual chair at the table.

On his end, Jon is smiling, her admission giving him the confidence to continue on. "I want to see you again. Soon." He can't keep her out of his mind, out of his heart. Somehow, already, she's found a place within him. "Tell me when."

A beat of silence and then comes a response.

"Tomorrow... Tomorrow evening."

Jon inwardly rejoices and he nods, though she cannot see him. "Tomorrow. Seven thirty? I'll pick you up." When she says yes, Jon feels true joy rush through him. They talk for a few moments longer before hanging up, though almost at once Jon feels that almost familiar feeling of longing. How can someone he knows so little have such a magnetic pull upon him?

That night as he crawls into bed, Jon hears his phone buzz on the side table.

Reaching for it, he smiles when he opens the message, pleasantly surprised to see a photo before any words. She must be laying in her bed, the only source of light from that of her phone as she snaps the photo; Lady is laying across her chest, clearly passed out after her long day. He glances down at Ghost asleep on the floor beside his bed and smiles. Good night, is all it says, but it's enough... It's more than enough.

Just before she dozes off, Sansa hears her phone beep. Good night, sleep well, I'll see you tomorrow, is all he's written, but it moves her unlike anything else ever could. Such a simple message, but somehow, coming from him, it means something new. Something wonderful. It is the start of something new and exciting.

The start of something special. 


End file.
